Posts Tagged ‘Dolby’

Dolby announced fiscal fourth quarter and full year revenue for the twelve months ending September 30, 2016. 2016 fiscal year revenue was $1,025.7 million, a 5.68% increase versus the 2015 fiscal year.

Full year revenue was within the guidance provided at the end of fiscal 2015 for total revenue between $1 billion and $1.03 billion.

2016 FY GAAP net income was $185.9 million or $1.81 earnings per share (diluted). This represents a 2.5% increase over the net income for the 2015 fiscal year of $181.4 million ($1.75 earnings per share).

GAAP gross margins were 89.4% for the year, a slight decrease versus the gross margins of 90.2% from the year earlier period. Operating margins were 23%, an increase of 100 basis points over the operating margins from fiscal 2015.

Licensing revenue for fiscal year 2016 was $917.0 million, an increase of 5.6% versus fiscal year 2015.

Product revenue was $90.5 million for the year, an increase of 7.9% compared to the 2015 fiscal year.

Services revenue were $18.2 million during fiscal year 2016, a decrease of 2.5% against 2015.

Product gross margins for 2016 were 28%, a substantial increase over the 16% gross margins from 2015.

2016 Fiscal Year Licensing Revenue by Customer Vertical:

Licensing revenue in the Broadcast vertical for televisions and set-top box sales was 46% of total licensing revenue or $421.8 million during fiscal 2016. On an aggregate basis, broadcast licensing grew 10.4% versus the 2015 fiscal year.

As part of management’s prepared comments on the Dolby’s earnings call, President and CEO Kevin Yeaman drew attention to the strong performance in the broadcast sector. “We had another strong year in broadcast. Dolby Audio is an established format in developed markets like North America and Western Europe, and we are well positioned in areas like Africa, India and China, when the transition to digital broadcast is underway. Future growth in broadcast will come from the continued migration of emerging markets to digital televisions and the rollout of high-definition and 4K set-top boxes with Dolby Audio in both developed and emerging markets” said Mr. Yeaman (Sourced from Seeking Alpha transcript).

Fiscal Q4 2016 Results:

Fiscal fourth quarter revenue was $233 million, flat against the year earlier period, and a decrease of 16.1% versus the preceding quarter, FQ3 2016. Management attributed the sequential drop in revenue to the higher timing of licensing payments in Q3 compared to Q4.

For the quarter, Dolby’s GAAP net income was $23.9 million or $0.23 earnings per share, a 48.6% decline when measured against the fiscal fourth quarter of 2015, and a 62.4% decline against the preceding quarter.

GAAP Gross Margins were 87% during the fourth quarter, a 210 basis point decline from the year earlier period and a 410 basis point decline versus FQ3 2016. Operating margins were 16%, an increase over the 12% from FQ4 2015 and a decrease versus the 29% operating margins during the preceding quarter.

Management guidance at the end of third fiscal quarter was for revenue in the range of $220 million to $230 million for the fourth quarter with gross margins between 88% and 89%, and GAAP earnings per share of $0.16 and $0.22. Dolby exceeded its guidance on both revenue and earnings per share, though underperformed on gross margins.

Dolby Atmos is now installed or committed in over 2,400 cinematic screens worldwide. 550 feature films using Dolby Atmos have been announced or released.

The first televisions incorporating Dolby Vision become available in the past year. LG is including Dolby Vision in their OLED and Super UHD LCD TVs; VIZIO is including Dolby Vision in their R, P, and M Series; and TCL and Skyworth are also shipping TVs with Dolby Vision. Content incorporating Dolby Vision is now available from Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, MGM, Universal, Lionsgate, Netflix and Amazon Studios.

Over 30 Dolby Cinema locations were added during 2016, bringing the total to over 40.

“We are well on our way to establishing that Dolby Vision is the best way to experience HDR content” stated Mr. Yeaman on Dolby’s earning call with analysts. “Our job this year is to accelerate the deployment of Dolby Vision” continued Mr. Yeaman.

Financial Guidance

Dolby’s guidance for the fiscal year 2017 is for revenue between $1.06 billion and $1.09 billion. Broadcast licensing revenue is expected to remain relatively flat in 2017.

Guidance for the first quarter of fiscal 2017 is revenue in the range of $250 million to $260 million, gross margins between 88% and 89%, and earnings per share between $0.34 and $0.40.

Dolby announced revenue for its third fiscal quarter (ending July 1, 2016) of $277.6 million, up 19.8% versus the year earlier period, and an increase of 1.2% versus the preceding quarter, Q2 2016 .

GAAP net income for the quarter was $63.6 million or $0.62 earnings per share (diluted). This represents a 79% increase over the net income for the fiscal third quarter of 2015 of $35.5 million ($0.34 earnings per share), and a sequential decline of 5.6% against the preceding quarter.

GAAP Gross Margins were 91.1% for the quarter, an increase over the gross margins of 89.3% from the year earlier period and equivalent to the gross margins recorded during fiscal Q2 2016. Operating margins were 29%, an increase over the 19% from fiscal Q3 2015 and a slight decline against the 29% operating margins during the preceding quarter.

Management guidance from the preceding quarter was for revenue in the range of $260 million to $275 million, gross margins between 89% and 90%, and earnings per share between $0.47 and $0.53. Dolby’s actual results exceed guidance in all areas.

The financial outperformance against guidance was attributed to increased adoption in the mobile and Digital Media Adapters (“DMAs”) and the timing of customer payments skewing toward the recently completed quarter.

Product revenue was $20.6 million, a decline of 8.7% compared to the year earlier period, and an increase of 2.8% versus FQ2 2016 results. Year-over-year declines are consistent with the broader cinema equipment market, which has been impacted by the recent completion of the conversion from film to digital.

Services revenue were $3.9 million during the fiscal third quarter, a decrease of 7.7% against FQ2 2015 and a decrease of 20.6% versus the fiscal second quarter’s results.

Product gross margins for FQ2 2016 were 31.7%, a substantial increase over the 11.4% gross margins from FQ3 2015 and a slight increase over the 30.3% gross margins in FQ2 2016. According to Dolby’s SEC filing, the higher product gross margins stemmed from lower charges for excess and obsolete inventory along with reduced manufacturing variances.

Licensing Revenue by Customer Vertical:

Licensing revenue in the Broadcast vertical for televisions and set-top box sales was 39% of total licensing revenue or $98.7 million. On an aggregate basis, Broadcast licensing grew 4.7% versus FQ3 2015, though declined 12.0% versus the preceding quarter, FQ2 2016. As a percentage of total licensing revenue, Broadcast contributed 46% in FQ3 2015 and 45% during the FQ2 2016.

The remainder of Dolby’s licensing revenue is attributable to PC, Mobile, Consumer Electronics, and Other (Video game consoles, automobile entertainment, and audio conferencing).

Management attributed the sequential drop in Broadcast licensing to normal seasonality. The year-over-year increase for Broadcast was due to emerging market transition to digital broadcast. In particular in China where China Telecom and China Unicom specified Dolby Audio on their respective 4K IPTV set-top boxes.

Update on Dolby Atmos, Doly Cinema, and Dolby Vision:

As part of the earning release, Dolby disclosed several data points on the growing adoption of Dolby Atmos, the Company’s next-generation immersion audio technology.

There are now nearly 2,000 screens worldwide where Dolby Atmos is installed or committed. Over 490 Dolby Atmos titles have been announced or released. In the television sector during the quarter, the French Rugby League Final was delivered by Orange in Dolby Atmos and Comcast announced plans to deliver Dolby Atmos content later this year.

Management also provided an update on the progress of Dolby Cinema, a premium branded cinema. There are now more than 30 Dolby Cinema locations open and another 220 Dolby Cinema locations are scheduled for roll out around the world. Dolby Cinema exhibitor partners include AMC (US), Wanda and Jackie Chan (China), Vue (Netherlands), and Cineplex (Austria).

In its call with analysts, Dolby’s management cited several developments with Dolby Vision, the Company’s high dynamic range imaging technology.

Since its launch in May, there have been 50 Dolby Vision theatrical titles announced or released. Examples include the recent high-profile films Star Trek Beyond and The Legend of Tarzan.

Lionsgate, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros have all announced plans to create Dolby Vision content for the home.Management is anticipating up to 100 Dolby Vision titles available for home entertainment by the end of 2016.

Dolby Vision has made further progress with television set manufacturers. The second largest TV manufacturer in the world, LG now includes Dolby Vision in its full lineup of 2016 OLED and Super UHD LCD TVS. Vizio (2nd largest in TV Manufacturer in US) now has Dolby Vision in its R-series, P-series, and M-series of televisions. In addition, Dolby Vision TVs are now shipping from Skyworks, the third largest TV manufacturer in the world.

In the over-the-top (“OTT”) sector, Dolby Vision is now streaming from Amazon, Netflix, and Vudu.

Financial Guidance

Management guidance for the fiscal fourth quarter is revenue in the range of $220 million to $230 million, gross margins between 88% and 89%, and earnings per share between $0.16 and $0.22. Broadcast licensing is anticipated to represent 45% of total revenue during FQ4 2016.

Commenting on the quarter’s results, Kevin Yeaman, President and CEO, Dolby Laboratories stated, “Q3 results were strong, and we continued to build momentum with our new initiatives. We opened our first Dolby Cinema locations in China, grew the number of Dolby Vision televisions in market, and added a new Dolby Voice partner.”

We have been publishing the BBS Reports since 2009. Each new edition is created through several months of research, including interviews with technology end-users, global surveys of technology decision makers, analysis of the end-user responses, and visualization of the data collected. Now in its eighth year of publication, the BBS remains the most comprehensive annual study of technology end-users in the global broadcast and media technology industry. Nearly 10,000 technology professionals in 100+ countries participate in the BBS each year, making it the largest market study of the media technology industry.

Based on feedback from technology vendors, media companies, and investors, we have updated the vendors, product categories, and market trends profiled in the 2016 BBS to better align with recent market developments.

Select updates include the global tracking of IP Standard Adoption, a product level review of the 4K upgrade cycle, and planned usage of programmatic advertising exchanges.

The continual updates over the past eight years have helped the BBS reports remain a critical reference for industry executives to improve strategic decision-making, customer engagement, marketing strategy, product planning, and sales execution. In addition to technology vendor and service provider strategic planning, BBS reports are also used frequently for M&A and investment activities by both buyers and sellers.

Three types of 2016 BBS reports are available:

2016 BBS Global Brand Reports: provides deep insight into how each more than 100 broadcast technology suppliers (see full list below) are perceived by market participants, along with comprehensive benchmarking of broadcast technology vendors on a wide variety of metrics

Dolby announced revenue for its second fiscal quarter (ending April 1, 2016) of $274.3 million, up 1% versus the year earlier period, and an increase of 14% versus the preceding quarter, Q1 2016.

GAAP net income for the quarter was $67.4 million or $0.66 earnings per share. This represents a 16% increase over the net income for Q2 2015 of $57.9 million ($0.56 earnings per share).

GAAP Gross Margins were 91.1% for the quarter, an increase over the gross margins of 90.8% from the year earlier period and the 87.6% gross margins recorded during Q1 2016. Operating margins were 30%, an increase over the 29% from Q2 2015 and the 16% operating margins during the preceding quarter.

Management’s guidance at the end of first quarter had been for revenue in the range of $255 million to $270 million for the second quarter with gross margins between 89% and 90%, and GAAP earnings per share of $0.42 and $0.48. On each measure, Dolby outperformed guidance. Dolby’s shares were trading approximately 13% higher after the earnings release.

Product revenue was $20.0 million, a decline of 12.6% compared to the year earlier period, and a decrease of 19% versus Q1 2016 results. The Q1 2016 results had been especially strong given cinema updates related to holiday movie releases, including Star Wars episode seven. Year-over-year declines are consistent with the broader cinema equipment market, which has been impacted by the recent completion of the conversion from film to digital.

Services revenue were $4.9 million during the second quarter, a decrease of 12.5% against Q2 2015, and a slight increase of 2% versus the first quarter’s results.

Product gross margins for Q2 2016 were 30.3%, a substantial increase over the 20.7% gross margins from Q2 2015 and 23.3% gross margins in Q1 2016.

As part of the earning release, Dolby disclosed several data points on developments in its growth initiatives within its cinema business.

There are now nearly 1,800 screens worldwide where Dolby Atmos is installed or committed. Over 450 Dolby Atmos titles have been announced or released.

There are also more than 20 Dolby Cinema locations open and another 200 Dolby Cinema locations are planned for roll out around the world. Dolby Cinema is a partnership with cinema exhibitors (including AMC in the US) to create a branded premium cinema featuring Dolby Vision laser projection and Dolby Atmos audio technology. Nearly 40 Dolby Vision theatrical titles have been announced or released since its launch in May 2015.

Licensing Revenue by Customer Vertical:

Licensing revenue in the Broadcast vertical (primarily televisions and set-top boxes) was 45% of total licensing revenue or $112.2 million. On an aggregate basis, Broadcast licensing grew 9.8% versus Q2 2015 and 10.7% versus the preceding quarter, Q1 2016. As a percentage of total licensing revenue, Broadcast contributed 42% in Q2 2015 and 48% during the first quarter of 2016.

The remainder of Dolby’s licensing revenue is attributable to PC, Mobile, Consumer Electronics, and Other (Video game consoles, automobile entertainment, and audio conferencing).

Management attributed the growth in Broadcast licensing to higher back payments and higher volume in set-top boxes. During its earnings call, management noted Dolby is well-positioned to benefit from further growth in the Broadcast market as emerging markets transition to digital broadcast.

Also on the earnings call, Management highlighted several developments with Dolby Vision and Dolby’s growing technology presence in online content delivery.

LG, the 2nd largest TV manufacturer in the world, is set to begin shipping OLED and UHD LED TV’s featuring Dolby Vision. Dolby Vision is now included in three of the five television lines from Vizio, the 2nd largest TV manufacturer in the US.

Over 40 streaming services now deliver Dolby Audio including Google Play, Netflix, Microsoft, Amazon, and iTV. Management is anticipating up to 100 Dolby Vision titles available for home entertainment delivery by the end of 2016. Netflix and VUDU are now streaming content in Dolby Vision, and Amazon has announced a commitment to Dolby Vision.

Financial Guidance

Management guidance for the third fiscal quarter is revenue in the range of $260 million to $275 million, gross margins between 89% and 90%, and earnings per share between $0.47 and $0.53.

Commenting on the quarter’s results, Kevin Yeaman, President and CEO, Dolby Laboratories stated, “It was a solid quarter and we gained momentum in mobile with the inclusion of Dolby Audio in iOS. We’ve also expanded the number of Dolby Vision TVs in market and the amount of Dolby Vision content, while continuing to roll out Dolby Cinema locations around the world.”

The 2015 Big Broadcast Survey (BBS) Reports have now been published and are available from Devoncroft Partners.

We have been publishing the BBS Reports since 2009. Each new edition is created through several months of research, including interviews with technology end-users, global surveys of technology decision makers, analysis of the end-user responses, and visualization of the data collected. Now in its seventh year of publication, the BBS remains the most comprehensive annual study of technology end-users in the global broadcast and media technology industry. Nearly 10,000 technology professionals in 100+ countries participated in the 2015 BBS, making it once again the largest market study of the media technology industry.

Based on feedback from technology vendors, media companies, and investors, we have updated the vendors, product categories, and market trends profiled in the 2015 BBS to better align with recent market developments.

These updates help ensure the BBS reports remains a critical reference for industry executives to improve strategic decision-making, customer engagement, marketing strategy, product planning, and sales execution. In addition to technology vendor and service provider strategic planning, BBS reports are also used frequently for M&A and investment activities by both buyers and sellers.

Three types of 2015 BBS reports are available:

2015 BBS Global Brand Reports: provides deep insight into how each more than 100 broadcast technology suppliers (see full list below) are perceived by market participants, along with comprehensive benchmarking of broadcast technology vendors on a wide variety of metrics

After months of data collection, analysis, and visualization, we have now completed work on the 2014 Big Broadcast Survey (BBS). Reports from this study have now been published and are available from Devoncroft Partners.

If you’re not familiar with the BBS, it’s the most comprehensive annual study of technology end-users in the global broadcast industry. Nearly 10,000 broadcast professionals in 100+ countries participated in the 2014 BBS, making it once again the largest market study of the broadcast industry.

BBS reports have been designed to help readers improve their strategic decision-making, customer engagement, marketing strategy, product planning, and sales execution. BBS reports are also used frequently for M&A-related activities by both buyers and sellers.

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Three types of 2014 BBS reports are available:

2014 BBS Global Brand Reports: provides deep insight into how each more than 100 broadcast technology suppliers (see full list below) are perceived by market participants, along with comprehensive benchmarking of broadcast technology vendors on a wide variety of metrics.

2014 BBS Global Market Report: provides detailed information about industry trends, major projects being planned, products being evaluated for purchase, current and future plant infrastructure, broadcast technology CapEx budgets, and planned deployment of new technologies including 4K, Connected TV, and Social TV.

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If you would like information about these reports and how they can help your business, please get in touch.

In addition to these paid-for reports, we will also be publishing highlights from the 2014 BBS on the Devoncroft website. These articles will be posted on a semi-regular basis, so please check back often.

To receive posts when they are published, just enter your email in the box in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

The tables below show the product categories and broadcast technology vendor brands covered in the 2014 BBS.

Dolby Labs has signed a definitive agreement to acquire digital cinema replay server vendor Doremi for $92.5 million in cash plus an additional $20 million in contingent consideration that may be earned over a four-year period.

The addition of the Doremi product line complements Dolby’s existing line-up of digital cinema replay servers. Dolby was a pioneer in this market, and enjoyed strong success in markets such as North America, where its system was adopted. According to filings with US securities regulators, Dolby’s cinema product business (which includes more than just digital cinema replay servers) delivered $169.69m of revenue in 2010, but by the end of 2012 had declined 47% to $88.88m.

Doremi has established a strong foothold in emerging markets where the conversion of cinemas to digital projection technology has not been completed. According to company press releases, Doremi claims to have a 70% market share of digital cinema servers in Latin America, and to have shipped 55,000 of its digital cinema replay servers, including 5,000 units between June – December 2013.

Doremi says it was the first company to achieve compliance with the Digital Cinema Initiative (DCI) specification, and that its digital cinema replay products support 4K development and 3D High Frame Rate playback, which eh company says has “been a en a major contributor to the company’s success.”

Interestingly Dolby’s announcement specifically mentions the company’s new Atmos “object-based sound platform.” Thus it’s likely that in addition to gaining share in developing markets, Dolby is using the Doremi acquisition as a way to expand the base of Atmos-enabled cinemas around the world. If this strategy succeeds, Dolby can use the leverage of a large theatrical installed base to further enhance its core business of licensing technology for consumer applications.

Dolby has stated previously that Atmos technology, initially designed for the cinema can be brought to home users for TV and listening via headphones.

However, Dolby has competition for the next generation of consumer audio licensing opportunities. DTS and Fraunhofer have both developed “multi-dimensional audio” codecs with speakers enveloping the viewer (placed on the sides, in front, back and on top).

Rival DTS has developed its Ultra High-Definition (UHD) audio system (aka “Neo:X” consisting of 11.1 channels). German based research organization Fraunhofer (developer of the MP3 audio codec) has developed MPEG-H (up to 22.2 channels), which consists of an Extended HE-AAC based audio codec and a 3-D rendering engine, which supports the efficient transmission of “3-D audio signals” and flexible rendering for the playback of 3D audio in a wide variety of listening scenarios.

“Dolby and Doremi Labs have complementary technology expertise and solutions”

“Dolby and Doremi Labs have complementary technology expertise and solutions,” said Kevin Yeaman, President and CEO, Dolby Laboratories. “Together we’ll be able to advance the pace of innovation and create the kind of cinematic experiences that drive movie attendance for our exhibitor partners.”

“For more than 40 years, Dolby has provided innovative technology to the cinema exhibition industry, offering storytellers the tools and technology to express their visions in new ways,” said Camille Rizko, Founder and President, Doremi Labs. “But more importantly, Dolby shares our commitment to working closely with exhibitors to bring amazing experiences to moviegoers.”

According to Dolby, the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including review by US and international regulators. Depending on these conditions, the transaction is anticipated to close by the end of 2014. The impact of the acquisition on fiscal year 2014 revenue and non-GAAP results is not expected to be material.

This is the ninth in a series of articles about some of the findings from Devoncroft’s 2013 Big Broadcast Survey (BBS), a global study of broadcast industry trends, technology purchasing plans, and benchmarking of broadcast technology vendor brands. Nearly 10,000 broadcast professionals in 100+ countries took part in the 2013 BBS, making it the largest and most comprehensive market study ever conducted in the broadcast industry.

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This is the fifth post in a series of articles about how broadcast technology vendors were ranked and benchmarked on a variety of metrics by the respondents to the 2013 BBS.

This article follows on from the 2013 BBS Broadcast Technology Vendor Innovation League Table, by focusing on one of the most important metrics for any technology company – Quality.

2013 Broadcast Technology Vendor Quality Rankings

The broadcast prides itself on the fidelity of its sound and images, the perception of quality is a very important metric for broadcast technology vendors.

Many vendors use quality as one of the key components of their market positioning. Likewise, many end-users include technical performance and quality as a part of their procurement strategies.

The table below shows the 2013 BBS Broadcast Technology Vendor Quality League Table, which shows the top 30 ranked brands for “Quality” by 2013 BBS respondents.

An explanation of how these results were calculated can be found at the end of this article.

.Please note that both audio and video brands are included in these rankings, and that the table below shown brands in alphabetical order, NOT in the order in which they were ranked in the study.

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This list contains a broad mix of vendors including large and small firms; single product and multi-product firms; global and regional players; and audio and video technology providers.

Given the diversity of the vendors in this list, it’s worth asking whether factors such as organization size, breadth of product range, geography, or technology impact the perception of quality.

Since the ultimate manifestation of quality is in the actual product delivered to end-users, it’s useful to understand what products are produced by the vendors on this list, and whether this has an impact on the perception of quality.

The top three products in the 2013 BBS Broadcast Technology Vendor Quality League Table are audio products – Microphones, Audio Mixing Consoles, and Speakers.

This is an interesting data point. Although there are 30 product categories included in the 2013 BBS, only five are directly related to audio. Yet, the top three product categories in the 2013 BBS Quality rankings are audio products. Why are audio brands so prevalent in these rankings?

One possibility is that for many people, audio is all about the quality and fidelity of the sound. Thus quality is the ultimate metric for audio brands. Indeed, our research consistently shows that many pure-play audio companies have extremely high quality ratings.

Another thing to consider is that (as mentioned above in bold), the rankings posted on this website always contain both audio and video brands. Since there are fewer audio brands in the study, there may be a higher concentration of responses per brand on a relative basis when an audio professional responds to the survey.

Another issue is that the top 3 ranked product categories Microphones, Audio Mixing Consoles, and Speakers – are typically found in high-profile environments, and particularly in real-time or live environments where there are not always second chances to re-do a show, event, or recording.

Interestingly, the same can be said for many of the video-oriented products in the above chart.

Video products including cameras, production switchers, and video editing are typically found in live production or mission-critical studio applications. And the primary function of many test & measurement products, which are also produced by three of the brands in the 2013 BBS Broadcast Technology Vendor Quality League Table, is to measure quality and fidelity.

Many of these products tend to be high ticket items that are produced by the industry’s larger vendors. This begs the question of whether organization size plays a role in the perception of quality. Larger companies often have a broader product offering, but does this translate into a higher perception of quality?

The table below examines the correlation between size of vendor / product range and the market’s perception of quality, by showing the number of product categories (as defined by the 2013 BBS segmentation) offered by each brand listed in this ranking.

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Sure enough, the vendors at the top of this chart are larger vendors that provide multiple product lines.

Having said that, the majority of the vendors in the 2013 BBS Broadcast Technology Vendor Quality League Table are single product category companies (as defined by the 2013 BBS segmentation).

This shows that specialist vendors, whether large or small, who have expertise in a particular areas of technology are often able stand out from the rest of the market, including vendors who may be much larger.

The following six brands were listed in the 2012 BBS Broadcast Technology Vendor Quality League Table, but are not listed in the 2013 rankings:

Clear-Com, Dolby, Isilon Systems/EMC, Mackie, Panasonic, Wheatstone

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How These Results Were Calculated

Based on how they answered a series of screening questions in the 2013 BBS were answered, relevant brands were algorithmically determined for each research participant. Each 2013 BBS participant was then asked to rank a variety of relevant broadcast technology vendor brands for “Quality” on a scale of 1-10 — with 10 being best in the market, and 1 being worst in the market.

Global response data from all BBS respondents was then aggregated and averaged in order to generate a global “Quality Score” for each brand based on these responses.

The brands with the top 30 scores for quality were then included in this ranking table. These brands were then sorted by alphabetical order to create the tables shown in this article.

The inclusion of any brand in the tables in this article is dependent on available sample size. The minimum sample size for inclusion in the tables shown herein is 30 respondents per cut of the data. Therefore it is possible that a highly regarded brand may have been excluded from any or all of the tables in this article due to insufficient sample size.

Both audio and video brands are included in the calculation of the rankings in this article, whereas these brands are typically separated in actual BBS reports. The inclusion of both audio and video brands may have a significant impact on the vendor brands included in these rankings.

All data these charts are presented in alphabeticalorder, NOT in the order brands were ranked by respondents to the 2013 BBS.

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The information in this article is based on select findings from the 2013 Big Broadcast Survey (BBS), a global study of broadcast industry trends, technology purchasing plans, and benchmarking of broadcast technology vendor brands. Nearly 10,000 broadcast professionals in 100+ countries took part in the 2013 BBS, making it the largest and most comprehensive market study ever conducted in the broadcast industry. The BBS is published annually by Devoncroft Partners.

Unless otherwise specified, all data in this article measures the responses of all non-vendor participants in the 2013 BBS, regardless of factors such as organization type, organization size, job title, purchasing and geographic location. Please be aware that responses of individual organization types or geographic locations may be very different. Granular analysis of these results is available as part of various paid-for reports based on the 2013 BBS data set. For more information about this report, please contact Devoncroft Partners.

This is the eighth in a series of articles about some of the findings from Devoncroft’s 2013 Big Broadcast Survey (BBS), a global study of broadcast industry trends, technology purchasing plans, and benchmarking of broadcast technology vendor brands. Nearly 10,000 broadcast professionals in 100+ countries took part in the 2013 BBS, making it the largest and most comprehensive market study ever conducted in the broadcast industry.

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This is the fourth post in a series of articles about how broadcast technology vendors were ranked and benchmarked on a variety of metrics by the respondents to the 2013 BBS.

This post looks at one of the most important metrics for any technology company – innovation.

An explanation of how these results were calculated can be found at the end of this article.

The product side of the film & broadcast industry is driven by technology and innovation. All vendors spend heavily on research and development in order to create advanced technologies that make their products stand out from the competition. Thus innovation is a very important component of the brand image and reputation of vendors in this space.

Please note that both audio and video brands are included in these rankings, and that the table below shown brands in alphabetical order, NOT in the order in which they were ranked in the study.

There are a wide variety of companies on this list, including large and small firms; single product and multi-product firms; global and regional players; and audio and video technology providers.

Let’s look specifically at the how these companies and their products were ranked in the 2013 BBS, beginning with products and technology.

As shown in the chart below, these companies make products in 22 of the 30 product categories that we covered in the 2013 BBS.

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The top offerings provided by brands in the 2013 BBS Broadcast Technology Vendor Innovation League Table are production switchers, pro audio products, and test and measurement.

Does company size play a role in innovation? Larger companies offer more products and are consequently used in more places than their smaller counterparts. But this does not necessarily translate into innovation.

The chart below breaks down the 2013 BBS Broadcast Technology Vendor Innovation League Table by the number of product categories (as defined by the 2013 BBS segmentation) offered by each brand listed in this ranking.

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What’s interesting about these rankings is that it includes the largest brands in the industry such as Cisco, Sony and Panasonic, alongside smaller (and relatively new) companies such as Elemental Technologies and Phabrix.

It’s also interesting to note that just under one-third of the companies listed in the 2013 BBS Broadcast Technology Vendor Innovation League Table, are pure-play audio vendors.

There are also quite a few software companies including Adobe, Autodesk, Elemental, Telestream, and Vizrt.

Another thing to note is that this ranking is once again dominated by companies that provide products in a single product category – 19 out of 30 brands in this list (up from 18 in 2012). This suggests that focused companies who apply their efforts to specialist product areas are often able to generate more innovation in the eyes of the market.

At the same time, larger companies are also represented on this list of the broadcast industry’s top innovators. Sony and Snell provide products in the most categories in the 2013 BBS Broadcast Technology Vendor Innovation League Table, followed by Adobe, Blackmagic, and Panasonic.

Of course, companies are listed here based on how many 2013 BBS product categories they produce, which is not an absolute measure of the products offered be each vendor on this list. There are some very large companies on the list above who appear in just one 2013 BBS category.

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Year-Over-Year Changes to BBS Innovation Rankings

The majority of vendors in the 2013 BBS Broadcast Technology Vendor Innovation League Table were also listed in this ranking last year.

The following new entrants to the BBS Broadcast Technology Vendor Innovation League Table are listed in 2013 but were not listed last year:

Elemental Technologies, Leader, Telestream, Yamaha

The following brands were listed in the 2012 BBS Broadcast Technology Vendor Innovation League Table, but are not listed this year:

Angenieux, Mackie, Omneon, Salzbrenner Stagetec, T-VIPS

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How These Results Were Calculated

2013 BBS participants were asked to provide their perception of the innovation of a variety of relevant broadcast technology vendor brands on a scale of 1-10 — with 10 being best in the market, and 1 being worst in the market.

This data was then aggregated and averaged in order to generate the global score for each brand based on these responses.

The top 30 global brands for innovation were then sorted by alphabetical order to create the tables shown in this article.

When reviewing this information, please note the following:

The inclusion of any brand in the tables in this article is dependent on available sample size. The minimum sample size for inclusion in the tables shown herein is 30 respondents per cut of the data. Therefore it is possible that a highly regarded brand may have been excluded from any or all of the tables in this article due to insufficient sample size.

Both audio and video brands are included herein, whereas these brands are typically separated in actual BBS reports.

All data these charts are presented in alphabeticalorder, NOT in the order brands were ranked by respondents to the 2013 BBS.

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The information in this article is based on select findings from the 2013 Big Broadcast Survey (BBS), a global study of broadcast industry trends, technology purchasing plans, and benchmarking of broadcast technology vendor brands. Nearly 10,000 broadcast professionals in 100+ countries took part in the 2013 BBS, making it the largest and most comprehensive market study ever conducted in the broadcast industry. The BBS is published annually by Devoncroft Partners.

Unless otherwise specified, all data in this article measures the responses of all non-vendor participants in the 2013 BBS, regardless of factors such as organization type, organization size, job title, purchasing and geographic location. Please be aware that responses of individual organization types or geographic locations may be very different. Granular analysis of these results is available as part of various paid-for reports based on the 2013 BBS data set. For more information about this report, please contact Devoncroft Partners.

This is the seventh in a series of articles about some of the findings from Devoncroft’s 2013 Big Broadcast Survey (BBS), a global study of broadcast industry trends, technology purchasing plans, and benchmarking of broadcast technology vendor brands. Nearly 10,000 broadcast professionals in 100+ countries took part in the 2013 BBS, making it the largest and most comprehensive market study ever conducted in the broadcast industry.

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This is the third post in a series of articles about how broadcast technology vendors were ranked and benchmarked on a variety of metrics by the respondents to the 2013 BBS.

These rankings show how the global sample of 2013 BBS respondents rated a variety of broadcast technology vendor brands in terms of their overall opinion of these vendors, and also how their opinions have changed over time.

A large number of brands were listed in the two previous ranking lists. Between these two sets of league tables, a total of 70 broadcast technology vendor brands were listed (out of a total of 151 brands included in the 2013 BBS (the complete list of brands included in the 2013 BBS can be found here).

There were 46 vendors in the in the 2013 BBS Overall Brand Opinion League Table (versus 48 in 2012), and 53 vendors in the 2013 BBS Net Change in Overall Brand Opinion League Table (versus 58 in 2012).

However, the brands in the Overall Opinion and Net Change of Opinion rankings were not always the same. In fact, out of the 70 broadcast technology vendor brands that were listed in the previous two rankings, just 29 brands were listed in both sets of rankings, either globally or regionally.

We’ve called this list of the 29 brands listed in both the 2013 BBS Overall Opinion and Net Change of Opinion rankings the 2013 BBS Brand Opinion Leaders League Table.

These vendors, shown below, are held in high regard today by broadcast technology buyers, and are also perceived to be getting better over time.

Please note that both audio and video brands are included in these rankings, and that the table below shown brands in alphabetical order, NOT in the order in which they were ranked in the study.

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There are a wide variety of companies on this list, including large and small firms; single product and multi-product firms; global and regional players; and audio and video technology providers.

What they have in common is strong brand recognition, and a dynamism that 2013 BBS respondents feel is making them even stronger.

Year-over-year changes to these rankings:

Twenty-two in the 2013 BBS Brand Opinion Leaders League Table were listed in the 2012 version of these rankings:

The following eight companies that were listed in the 2012 BBS Brand Opinion Leaders League Table are not included in the 2013 ranking:

Apple, Clear-Com, Genelec, Harmonic, Harris, Omneon, Schoeps, Wohler

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Brand Opinion Leaders by Product Categories

As shown in the chart below, the companies in the 2013 BBS Brand Opinion Leaders League Table make products in 23 of the 30 categories that we covered in the 2013 BBS, down from 25 product categories in 2012.

The chart above has a good mix of audio and video products, as well as a mix of hardware and software products.

However, it is interesting to note that many of the most frequently cited product categories are audio-related. Some vendors on this list, such as Adobe, Avid, Riedel, and Sony, are listed in both audio and video product categories in the 2013 BBS. Other vendors are listed in only audio categories. These include Adam, Dolby, Lawo, Neumann, RTW, Sennheiser, Shure, Solid State Logic, Soundcraft, Studer, Wheatstone, and Yamaha.

It is also useful to look at the number of product categories provided by each vendor in the Global Brand Opinion Leader League Table. After all, larger companies often make more products and are consequently used in more places than their smaller counterparts.

The table below shows the number of product categories that each brand in this ranking produces (as defined by the segmentation used in the 2013 BBS).

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While there are several brands on this list that appear in many product categories, the vast majority produce only one or two types of products. Indeed out of the thirty brands in this table, sixteen brands appear only once.

Keep in mind that companies who produce only one type of product are not necessarily small. There are some very large companies on the list above who appear in just one 201 BBS category.

It turns out that to fully understand what drives brand opinion and brand leadership, one needs to look at the factors that drive and influence these perceptions. This includes the company’s reputation for things like innovation, reliability, quality, value and great customer service.